Appointment of B. Jay Cooper as a Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary

The President today announced the appointment of B. Jay Cooper as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary.

Since September 8, 1987, Mr. Cooper has served as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary. He had been Director of Public Affairs and Press Secretary at the Department of Commerce since September 1983. He first came to the Commerce Department as the Secretary's speechwriter in March 1981. Prior to coming to Washington, Mr. Cooper was an editor for the Waterbury (Connecticut) Republican-American newspapers. He served as a reporter for those newspapers for about 8 years and also wrote a weekly political column. In 1980, he took a leave of absence and served as communications director for the Connecticut Reagan-Bush campaign. While at the Waterbury newspapers, he won several awards, including the UPI New England Community Service Award.

Mr. Cooper graduated from Northeastern University (B.A., 1973). He was born June 9, 1950, and is a native of Waterbury, CT. He currently resides in Arlington, VA, and has three daughters.